The Deep, Deep Snow

by Brian Freeman

  “You,” he said, jabbing a finger in my direction. “What’s your name?”

  “Deputy Shelby Lake.”

  “Not a senior deputy?” Reed said with a flash of his white teeth.

  I couldn’t help smiling, too. “No, sir, just a deputy.”

  “How long have you been with the department?”

  “Seven years.”

  Reed turned to my father. “Sheriff, do you have any problem with assigning Deputy Lake to me during this investigation?”

  I watched Violet open her mouth to object, but then she closed it again without saying anything.

  “None at all,” Dad replied. He gave me the fastest little wink.

  “All right. Deputy Lake, if you’re okay with that, consider yourself conscripted.”

  “Of course. Thank you, sir.”

  “That’ll be all for now, everyone,” Reed continued. “You’ll have assignments in fifteen minutes, and senior staff will meet again before the press conference in three hours. Remember, everybody, we’ve got a ten-year-old boy out there. Let’s go find him.”

  That was all.

  I was afraid that Adam was going to have a stroke. He shot me a look that was black with jealousy and rage. Adam and I liked each other, and none of this was my fault, but I knew this was going to be a problem between us. As the meeting broke up, he stormed out of the basement without a word to anyone else. Agent Reed watched him go. He knew what he’d done, and he didn’t care.

  Of course, I wasn’t dumb. I knew why Reed had picked me. He assumed I was young, I was pliable, and I would do what I was told.

  “Deputy Lake?” Agent Reed towered in front of me. “The first thing I want to do is talk to the Sloans. I’d like you with me.”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Just so we’re clear, the parents are suspects until we prove otherwise. That’s not for public consumption, but when things like this happen, it’s usually somebody close to the child. Our first job is to rule the parents out, so we can move on to others. Got it?”

  “Got it.”

  “Ditto the brother. What’s his name? Adrian? I want to reinterview him about exactly what happened out there.”

  I wasn’t sure I should say anything, but I barreled ahead anyway. “In fact, sir, I’m a little concerned that Adrian hasn’t told us everything he knows.”

  Reed studied me with a glint in his eyes. “Oh? How so?”

  I explained about the Gruders and about the burs on their pants. I was ready for Reed to dismiss my suspicions the way my father and Adam had, but instead, he called one of his agents over immediately and asked for background research on Will and Vince. Then he turned back to me and gave me a thumbs-up.

  “That’s an excellent observation, Deputy,” he told me. “Has anyone talked to Adrian about this yet?”

  I glanced at Dad, who was close enough to overhear, and I felt like a traitor. “No.”

  “Well, let’s talk to him right now and get to the bottom of this. If he’s hiding something, we need to know what it is. The fact is, I never met a sixteen-year-old boy yet who didn’t lie the first time you asked him a question.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Any affairs?” Agent Reed asked me.

  I eyed him across the front seat of my cruiser as we drove down the highway toward the Sloan house. My guilt about Keith Whalen was the first thing that popped into my head, and I hoped it didn’t show on my face. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Dennis and Ellen Sloan. Is there any talk around town about either of them cheating?”

  “Why does that matter?”

  “When people try to cover up affairs, bad things tend to happen. We always have to be conscious of possible motives.”

  “Well, there’s been gossip about Dennis for a long time. I don’t know whether any of it’s true. He also drinks more than he should. He’s had a couple of DUIs over the years.”

  “And Ellen?”

  “Not that I’ve heard about. She’s a straight arrow.”

  “What about money problems?”

  “I don’t think so. Ellen’s store does well, and Dennis must make a pretty good living with the forestry department. I imagine they’ll be inheriting money and land from her father now, too. He passed away a couple of weeks ago.”

  “What about abuse? Violence? Any calls for domestic disturbance at their place?”

  “No, nothing like that. We get our share of domestic issues, but I’ve never heard about a problem with the Sloans.” I added after a moment, “It must be ugly for you and your team, always looking for the worst in people.”

  Reed watched the trees going by on the highway. His long legs were squeezed under the dashboard. “I find kids. We’ve got a ninety percent success rate doing that. Nothing else matters.”

  “I wasn’t saying—”

  “I know what you were saying, Deputy. And yes, you’re right. It’s ugly sometimes. The reason I ask these questions is that people who have secrets typically don’t like to share them. They lie to their spouses, they lie to their friends, they lie to their doctors, they lie to cops. Even when their kid’s life is at stake, they lie. Honestly, I don’t care where Dennis Sloan sticks his dick. I care whether he’s being blackmailed about it, or whether some girl he dumped has a grudge against him, or whether his kid saw Daddy doing something he shouldn’t and told somebody else about it. All those things make kids disappear.”

  Like I said, Reed was smart. And tough. But he wasn’t going to let anyone’s feelings get in the way of what he had to do. When I listened to him talk, I could hear an unwanted visitor stampeding through the china shop, with dishes crashing to the floor in his wake.

  We arrived at the Sloan house. Before we got out of the cruiser, Reed opened the glove compartment and grabbed a listing of the vehicle’s mechanical specs in a plastic slip cover. He shoved the plastic case inside his suit coat pocket.

  “What are you doing?” I asked. “What’s that for?”

  “Visual aid,” he replied without further explanation.

  Ellen and Dennis met us at the door. Their faces were drawn, and their eyes were red with tears and exhaustion. There were others inside the house with them, just as there had been the previous day. Relatives. Friends. Kids from Adrian’s school. Trina must have finally gone home, because I didn’t see her. Everyone looked fragile, as if tensing for the moment when the phone would ring and they would find out whether the news was good or bad. The teenagers clustered around Adrian. The men clustered around Dennis. The women fussed and looked busy and left Ellen alone. She was independent and needed her space.

  Agent Reed introduced himself with firm handshakes for both parents. He was an entirely different man in front of the Sloans. His hostile impatience vanished. He radiated compassion. And yet I watched his eyes and knew he was registering everything in the room and taking the measure of all the people who were gathered there.

  “Is there a place we can talk?” he asked. “Somewhere private?”

  Dennis nodded and led us downstairs. The walk-out basement was a man cave, built with log beams and stuffed with toys. Large-screen television. Pool table. An old-style slot machine from a Vegas casino. It was just the five of us. Ellen, Dennis, Adrian, Agent Reed, and me. The adults sat on a leather sofa near the television, and Adrian staked out a high-top chair at the wet bar. I kept an eye on him. The boy squirmed like a caterpillar on a hot sidewalk.

  Reed took them through a long checklist of everything that was being done. The sheer length of the list made it sound like the whole world was looking for Jeremiah. I could see visible relief on Ellen’s face, and she shot me a quick I-told-you-so look. That was fine. Anything that gave her a moment’s comfort was fine with me.

  Then Reed shifted gears.

  “One thing I need from you right away, Mr. and Mrs. Sloan, is a list of all th
e adults in Jeremiah’s life.”

  Ellen took a moment to focus. “What?”

  “Teachers, doctors, friends, coworkers, neighbors, any adults that Jeremiah would see on a regular basis.”

  “Why do you need that?”

  “We want to talk to all of them.”

  “Oh. Well, of course, we can do that. Dennis and I will sit down and come up with names.”

  “Thank you.”

  The real meaning of Reed’s question only dawned on Ellen slowly, and I watched a horrified realization grow on her face. What he was saying was: Someone close to you could have done this. You can’t trust anyone. Your friends are all suspects.

  “Mr. Sloan, how did you find out that Jeremiah was missing?” Reed asked.

  “I was at the ranger’s office when Adrian came running in.”

  “Who else was there?”

  “Two other rangers were with me. There were a few tourists, too. A married couple from Iowa, I think. And two twentysomethings with backpacks.”

  “Were these other rangers in the office with you all day?”

  “Yeah, they were.”

  “And do you have a registry of people who were camping on the national forest grounds on Friday?”

  “Sure. We have that.”

  “I’ll need a copy.”

  “Yeah, of course. You bet.”

  “Mrs. Sloan, what about you? How did you find out about Jeremiah?”

  Ellen had been watching the back-and-forth with her husband carefully. “Dennis called me. I was at the mini-mart. And yes, Agent Reed, I can give you the names of any number of customers who can verify that I was there all day.”

  Reed offered her a sympathetic smile. He knew she’d figured it out. First, make sure the parents weren’t involved. “I appreciate that. Please understand that this kind of information is necessary as part of our routine background in a case like this.”

  Then he swung around to face the teenager in the high-top chair. “It’s Adrian, right? Come on over here and join us.”

  His tone made it clear that this wasn’t just a suggestion. Adrian slid off the chair and took a seat on the sofa far from his mother and father. He stared at his feet and ran both hands through his hair, leaving it messy. He had the same thick black hair as his father.

  “You a football player?” Reed asked with a friendly smile. “You’ve got the build for it.”

  “Yeah, I am.”

  “So was I. High school, and college, too. What do you play? Tackle?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I figured. Okay, Adrian, I know you’re worried about your brother. We all are. I know you want to help us find him. So I need you to answer some questions. It’s very important that you be honest with me.”

  The boy shrugged. “Sure.”

  “First of all, do you know two brothers named Will and Vince Gruder?”

  Adrian looked up sharply and realized that Reed’s pleasant smile had vanished. The whites in the boy’s eyes grew three times larger. His reaction told me I’d been right about Adrian not being alone in the national forest. I knew it told Agent Reed the same thing.

  “The Gruders?” Dennis interrupted with a puzzled expression. “What do they have to do with this?”

  “Adrian?” Reed asked quietly.

  “Yeah, sure, I know them. Everybody does.”

  “Are they friends of yours?”

  “No. I just know them. That’s all.”

  “I hear they sell drugs.”

  “Maybe. I guess. I don’t know.”

  “When did you last see them?”

  The boy shifted nervously on the sofa. “I don’t remember.”

  “Were they in the campground with you yesterday?”

  Adrian didn’t answer, and Reed leaned forward. His stare made the boy wilt.

  “I’m asking you a question, son. Were you with Will and Vince Gruder yesterday before your brother disappeared?”

  The Sloans looked back and forth between Adrian and Agent Reed, and they began to realize that their son had been lying to all of us.

  “Adrian,” Dennis interjected like the snap of a whip. “Answer the man’s question. Were you with those two assholes?”

  “No! No way. I was alone. I told the sheriff that.”

  Reed slid the plastic case with my cruiser’s mechanical specs partly out of his coat pocket. “Adrian, do you know what this is? It’s a search warrant that gives me the right to search your bedroom. See, I think you did some business with the Gruders yesterday, and I think we’re going to find evidence of whatever you bought in your room. Now we can all wait until I finish my search, or you can save us the time and tell us what I’m going to find in there.”

  The silence ticked away for a few seconds, but to Adrian, it must have felt like hours.

  Finally, he murmured, as if speaking in a whisper would hide the truth from his parents. “Meth.”

  “Meth?” Ellen screamed and shot to her feet. “Are you crazy? Are you out of your mind? What are you doing with something like that? Why would you have anything like that in your room? Adrian, say something!”

  Agent Reed stood up, too, and he put up his hands for calm. “Mrs. Sloan, I know this is upsetting, but right now, let’s keep the focus on Jeremiah. For the moment, this isn’t about drugs, it’s about finding your son. Adrian, I’m going to ask you again. Did you meet Will and Vince Gruder yesterday while you were out with your brother?”

  The teenager began to cry. Tears streamed down his cheeks, and his chest heaved. He could barely choke out the word. “Yeah.”

  We didn’t have time to ask more questions.

  Dennis flew off the sofa. He was over his son in a split-second. “You lying sack of … You made this happen! You did this to your brother!”

  Agent Reed and I both leaped across the space, but we were too late. Before we could get there in time to stop it, Dennis Sloan sent a fist flying with an awful crack of bone into Adrian’s mouth.

  Chapter Fifteen

  When we arrived at the school that was being transformed into the FBI command post, I found Violet standing among the red lockers that we used to haunt as teenagers. There was a display case on the wall highlighting photos and mementos from our championship volleyball season. I stood next to her, shoulder to shoulder, and we didn’t speak right away. In one of the photos behind the glass, I could see the two of us, both diving for the same ball and nearly cracking heads. Trina had had to work long and hard to keep us from getting in each other’s faces.

  “You were good,” I told her, like a peace offering.

  “So were you. Wow, you had a serve.”

  “But you were better on the court.”

  Violet nodded, as if that wasn’t even a matter for debate. “It seems like a long time ago.”

  “Yes, it sure does.”

  The same seven years had passed for both of us, but I couldn’t help thinking that Violet had grown up faster. She was only a few months older than me, but she was already a lawyer and serving on the county board. People listened to her and respected her. Soon enough, she’d be running the whole area.

  “We were stars back then,” Violet went on. “That was cool.”

  “Well, you’re still a star.”

  She glanced at me to see if I was kidding, which I wasn’t. “Didn’t you like it?”

  “The attention? No, not really. To me, it was about winning the game. I didn’t care about anything else.”

  “Interesting.” Violet turned away from the display case and was done with nostalgia. “How are things going with Special Agent Reed?”

  “He’s good. You were right to bring him in.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m sure you think he should have taken Adam with him, not me.”

  “Adam has more experience
, but Agent Reed knows what he wants.”

  I wasn’t sure if she intended a double entendre with that comment.

  “I heard there was some excitement,” she went on.

  “Yes, there was. Dennis hit Adrian.”

  “Dennis,” Violet said, with a sneer in her voice that made it clear she was no fan. “I wish I could say I was surprised. How is Adrian?”

  “Swollen jaw, a couple of loose teeth.”

  “Did you arrest Dennis?”

  “Adrian begged us not to. So did Ellen. Given everything that’s going on, we didn’t think it would help the situation to have Dennis cooling his heels behind bars. He feels bad about what he did. But Adrian lied about what happened in the forest, so I understand why Dennis is upset. If we’d known about the Gruders upfront, that might have changed the whole search.”

  “What does Ellen say? Was this the first time?”

  “You mean, that Dennis struck Adrian?”

  “That he struck either of the boys.”

  “So she says.”

  “Well, if Ellen says that, you can take it to the bank. And I’m sure she would have told me if there had been problems before.”

  I knew that Violet and Ellen had a close history together. When Violet’s family had first moved to the area, she was an outsider who didn’t fit in. She was a smart, pretty girl from the city joining a school with kids who’d been together in the same cliques their whole lives. It was a tough transition, and I didn’t make it easier for her. She was just as good as me on the volleyball team, which I resented because I was used to being the best. So it’s not like I gave her a warm welcome. No one in town did.

  Except Ellen Sloan. Ellen hired Violet as a part-time worker at the mini-mart. They worked together nearly every day during the school years and throughout the summer months while Violet was in high school and college. It was Ellen who really saw something special in her and encouraged her not just to go to law school, but to come back to this area after she did. I thought Violet would be gone from Mittel County just as fast as she could, but she proved me wrong.

  “What about Adrian?” Violet asked. “Is he in trouble?”